Etón FR500 Solarlink (Black)
by Eton
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List Price: Our Price: $64.99 You Save: $35.01 (35%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Etón FR500 Solarlink (Black)
Customer Review: mostly impressed
Summary: 5 Stars
We are pretty happy with our Solarlink and use it during power outages (our recent outage was 4 days in length), in the yard, and camping. I will break down the review by parts and attributes.
LED light: Quite bright
siren: Obnoxious, questionably useful
flashing LED: A single flashing red LED. Perhaps useful as a signal.
handcrank: Easy to use, has a green LED to indicate adequate cranking speed. Can crank in any direction.
reception: FM, AM, and NOAA station very good. SW is weak.
sound: Clear
weight: ~2 lbs., very light
LCD screen: Large easy to read numbers with backlighting option
clock: Easy to read and set (can read from across the room)
alarm: Clock radio, easy to set, has snooze button
power options: Very versatile. Solar, crank, 3 AA batteries, and AC. Does not come with DC power adapter, but can use a mini-USB charger (like the one on my cell phone) or a standard 5V DC connection. Many car cell phone chargers are also mini-USB
other connectors: Regular USB out for powering cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players. Two mini-HPJ's; one for earphones, one for audio-in (ie MP3 players).
Knobs: Inset knobs keep your settings steady when transporting.
owner manual: The Solarlink is fairly self explanatory which is good because the owners manual was not very useful. I would like a much more technical owners manual.
In short, we were looking for a radio that has many power options, NOAA stations, and is very portable. The Solarlink meets these requirements well. Probably not the radio of choice if you want SAME capability, good SW reception, or excellent stereo sound. Overall though we are very happy.
Customer Review: Does everything it was designed to do, and does it well!
Summary: 5 Stars
I see that there are more negative reviews than positive for this radio, but I got an excellent deal direct from the manufacturer, and decided to order one for testing. Mine was promptly delivered, easy to set up, and to date has functioned flawlessly. I'm keeping it.
As a veteran amateur radio operator, I've come to appreciate solid, dependable equipment, and although this little receiver wasn't built to amateur radio standards, it makes an excellent 'power out' receiver with a host of useful features.
Mine differs slightly from the one pictured here mainly in that it offers fewer white LEDs for illumination...just four (4), but these are blinding bright. I can't see any other external differences.
The audio is monaural (even with stereo headphones), crisp and clean, and the controls are adequate. The digital display is very large and its green backlight is *extremely* effective, particularly after your eyes have become adjusted to dim lighting.
The manual is brief and occasionally confusing, but I discovered all the radio's functions easy to understand with a little hands-on experience.
Yes indeed, this is an interesting and useful little radio.
Just today I used mine at a picnic, and it performed admirably all afternoon via solar power only.
73 de KC5JLA
Customer Review: well done
Summary: 5 Stars
this radio does everything it is supposed to do. After only 90 seconds of cranking, the radio played as advertised. it is compact and seems hardy enough to use in emergencies. it would be great to have made this waterproof too. And, i entered the warranty info online and sent in the model of my phone and within about 2 weeks, the correct charging tip came to fit onto the supplied USB cord to charge my Motorola phone.Customer Review: One of the Best Emergency Radios
Summary: 5 Stars
After researching many emergency radios, this one had the best and most varied features! RecommendedCustomer Review: Excellent emergency radio -- charges from my cell phone charger :-)
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought this as part of a plan to increase our emergency preparedness after being without power for almost 6 days this past winter.
The reception of the radio is good for all bands. Only complaint is that when doing shortwave, the dial is overly sensitive and I go blasting past stations even thought I'm trying really hard not to. Beyond that, it's a good solid product.
I love the fact that there are many ways to power the unit. I tried the solar cell successfully two days after winter solstice, so that's only going to be better most of the year. The hand crank will keep the radio running, but it won't build a good charge, so plan to keep cranking while you want to listen. It takes regular batteries - always a nice feature, but my favorite so far is the built-in NiCD battery that was happy to charge off my mini-USB cell phone charger. Between all these methods, I think it's the radio to have.
Only wish list item: adding TV/VHF reception. Then it would be the 100% complete package for me.